Step In Right Direction – Jamaica takes heart in late season run

When the year began, Jamaica set four goals: finish atop Queens, reach the playoffs, win a postseason game and bring home the school's first ever city championship on the gridiron. After the Beavers dropped their first three games, none of that seemed possible.
Nevertheless, they caught fire late, winning five of six to finish 17th overall, better than any other team in the borough - matching goal No. 1 - and reached the playoffs, their second goal.
Although No. 7 Jamaica (5-5) fell short of the other two benchmarks, losing in the opening round of the Bowl Division bracket, 33-8, in Fort Greene Sunday afternoon to second-seeded Brooklyn Tech, this season was an obvious step in the right direction for the fledgling program in just its third year of existence after a lengthy hiatus.
&#8220All in all, it hurts now,” Jamaica Coach Kenny Dyckman said, &#8220but when we reflect we'll be happy with what we accomplished this year.”
His players pointed to a bright future, one that includes 24 underclassmen who should be even better next fall. &#8220We have a great group of sophomores coming back that are really going to lead the team next year,” senior running back Nyles Bynum said. &#8220I'm definitely excited to watch this team next year.”
Still the Beavers wondered what could have been. They jumped out quick on the Engineers (4-6), taking an early eight-point lead on Major Harris's 85-yard fumble recovery for a score. However, Jamaica unraveled from there, Brooklyn Tech scoring 33 unanswered points. The Engineers built a 9-8 lead late in the first half, and then the four Beaver turnovers came.
First, it was Bynum fumbling a screen pass, leading to Glendon Davis's three-yard touchdown run. After a 27-yard pass from quarterback Naeem Abdul Majied to Elihu Barclay gave Jamaica possession at the Brooklyn Tech 38-yard-line late in the opening half, Majied coughed up the pigskin on a keeper, paving the way to Paul Lariviere's 23-yard field goal. Majied and Kamario Darby each threw second half interceptions in a failed comeback bid.
&#8220The turnovers really did hurt,” Bynum said. &#8220I guess that was the change of the game. Without the turnovers, it might have been a different game. … I made turnovers, Naeem made turnovers. Everybody did.”
&#8220We thought we had a good chance to get this win,” Dyckman said. &#8220We made some mistakes, we turned the ball over a few times, and when you play good teams, it's hard to overcome that.”
Despite next season's optimism, Dyckman felt for his 15 upperclassmen, specifically the ones who just played their last 48 minutes of football.
&#8220The most disappointing thing is I'm losing a group of seniors I really love,” the coach said. &#8220I had a great group of seniors who worked hard, a great group to coach every day. That's the hard part.”
There was not much crying on the Jamaica sideline afterward, like many other seniors from various other schools when the final seconds ticked away to their high school careers. But the pain was still the same.
&#8220Right now, it's a realization that I'm not going to wear this jersey with these people again,” Bynum said somberly. &#8220That's kind of disheartening. But it was a great ride. 10 games, I couldn't ask for much more.”